LEADERSHIP AT BATNA CASE STUDY

Conestoga College

LEADERSHIP AT BATNA CASE STUDY

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6/15

LEADERSHIP AT BATNA CASE STUDY

“Everyone has his or her limitations and skills”, Branson the CEO of Batna quotes. Batna is a web based company and invites customers and other companies to bring in ideas for new products. . The company was initially started to make iPod accessories but Branson being a man of weird charisma and vision does not want to be limited in his production line. At Batna product development cycle involves a lot of people unlike other companies where only a bunch of marketing professionals design new products. These made a lot of people praise him for being smart but he convinces himself that he is not a leader and demotes himself from being a leader. This is when he realizes that the company needs good management in order to venture more capital and to make sales. The paper seeks to explain the differences between leadership and management based on the behavioral theories. It will also explain the leadership strengths and weakness Branson have as well as the leadership style Branson is using.

1. 1/3 Leadership and management are both necessary for success. This is why you need to be familiar with the differences between the two. Successful organizations make the two distinctions clear in order to develop more opportunities in the business venture as well as guide those with leadership skills. Branson points out that, managers promote stability while leaders press for changes when he says he closely supervises people in the company but at least tries to make sure that every employee in his company is happy. This clearly shows he was a leader and a manager at the same time until when he demotes himself from being a leader. The aspect of being a leader is shown when he points it out that he tries to make every of his employee is happy or at least sort of happy while being a leader is clearly shown when he says that he closely supervises people in the company. Leaders provide directions, align people as well as motivation while managers plan, organize and makes coordination’s. More detail required in your answer in terms of answering the question “What is the difference between leadership and management?” On that note, we can conclude that Branson was both a leader and a manager. Branson is a leader

2. 2/5 Branson has several leadership styles as based on leadership theories. Leadership theories are classified based on the specific behaviors of a leader. For instance, there is the Great man theory Great Man is not a behaviorial theory. This is a behavioral theory that was formulated after studying those men who were born in leadership. There is also the trait theory, which focuses on those men who were born with inherited leadership traits. However, these leadership theories can be clearly identified by the leadership styles one exercise. According to behavioral theory, leaders are made not born. It is believed that anyone can be a leader. A leadership style is a manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans as well as motivating people (Renz, 2016). As evident, Branson is a participative leader and this is shown when he decides to include other customers and companies in decision making for new products Participative as you noted is OK, but he uses supportive style with his employees. It is also clear that Branson does not tell anyone what to do with their set of skills this is free-rein type of leadership ????. Branson clear shows he is a good leader when he closely monitors his employees. A good leader is one who makes observations to enable an efficient working team. He also shows traits of a good leader when he realizes he is not a good leader and decides to demote himself. A good leader must be someone who has self-awareness and can realize their own weakness without necessarily being told by anyone. However, Branson shows traits of a bad leader because he does not know how to communicate well with other individuals weakness. He also shows poor leadership styles when he lacks energy to monitor those employees who he finds them good at what they are doing Branson’s energy levels are not discussed in the case. This can motivate them to lack new ideals and make them remain in a constant norm. On the other hand, this is a good leadership trait because he trust them and allow them to participate in decision making he does not strive for consensus, which is not a strength. Also, your discussion (underlined) is confusing. On that note we can say, Branson has more of good leadership traits than the poor traits.

3. 2/5 The contingency theory of leadership states that the effectiveness of a leader is dependent on how his or her leadership style match with the situation. This ‘situation’ is defined by the relationship between leaders and employees, how leaders set up task structure and the power a leader has over his/her followers. Branson shows an effective leadership style when he is praised despite being seen as a teenager CEO. This is evident that, he has power influence over his followers. His task structure is excellent because at 17 he started as a web designer and later came to open up a web-based company that invites individuals and companies to send in ideas for new products. He realizes that being a web designer is not his destiny and had to try out a community-based decision-making process known as the illuminator project. This clearly shows that Branson is an effective leader since his task structure is purely based on involving the community.

I think you may have misunderstood the question. The question is “Using a contingency theory of your choice, determine which style of leadership Ben Branson should be using. Identify the contingency theory you selected.”

4. 1/2 Transformation leadership and transactional leadership are motivational strategies and techniques to boost employees’ performance. Transformation leadership is a strategy that is concerned with maintaining the ordinary flow of operations. With this kind of strategy, leaders focus on team-building, motivation and teamwork among every employee. This is transactional leadership. On the other hand, transactional leadership is concerned about making sure every operation flows smoothly. It is evident that Branson exercises transformation OK type of leadership since he is very strict and this shows that he is not generally concerned with the normal flow of operations. He also exercises transformation leadership when he points out that he is focused on motivating his employees by ensuring that every one of them is at least happy.

Leadership is an attribute of influencing the performance of an employee in order to meet the goals and mission of an organization. Branson is a good type of leader despite him being a teenager. It is evident that Branson exercises all kind of good leadership traits hence perfect for being a CEO for the Batna Company. Therefore, we can all conclude that leadership traits are made not born with.

Reference

Renz, D. O. (2016). The Jossey-Bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and management. John Wiley & Sons.